Feminism means equality between men and women, and we’re not there yet

Six out of seven women have rejected the term feminist and 36 per cent of
young women cannot imagine a time when men and women were not equal,
according to a netmums survey. Feminism means equality between men and
women, and we’re not there yet, says Sally Peck.

Make like Angelina and tattoo some important words on your hide. Why not try: feminism means equality between men and women?Photo: EPA

Young people seem to have a fondness for tattooing words on themselves. Perhaps it helps them remember important things. One earns extra chic points, apparently, go to those with tattoos in a foreign script, a la Angelina Jolie, David Beckham, and far too many followers from today’s youth, who have embraced messy or nonsensical collections of Chinese characterslike they are going out of style.

Here’s a free tip, kids: why not tattoo the words:

Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.

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I was horrified to read the report today that the word feminism is considered outdated by a third of women, who think it is “too aggressive towards men”, according to our report.

Let’s take just a moment to pick apart the above definition.

Are women and men politically equal?

Let’s look at the gender makeup of the Houses of Parliament. Of the US Congress. How many women lead powerful countries? I salute Angela Merkel and Julia Gillard, but they are a lonely and exclusive group.

Women and men in Britain have equal voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, property rights, access to education and health care equality. Hurrah.

But what about the murkier “equal opportunities”. Are women and men really judged equally when it comes to jobs? I’m going to take a chance and suggest that they are not.

Do you own, or know someone who owns a small company? Seven years ago I went for an interview at a small family-run art dealership in London, and the FIRST question I was asked in the interview was: “Are you pregnant? Or do you plan to be pregnant in the next few months? Because we don’t want to pay any maternity coverage.”

Right. This was illegal, but it’s an issue every small business considers, because it is a huge burden for businesses to pay money to women who go on maternity leave. But this is not the fault of the women; the population must continue somehow, and birthing is a taxing process. The burden of childcare should not be entirely on women’s shoulders. Their husbands, asI have argued before, should shoulder more of it than most currently do, and we should have high-quality nurseries to which we are happy to send our children. Only with these things in place will men and women be set up for equality in the workplace.

Which brings us to economic equality.

Ladies? How many of you earn what your male peers do? How many of you have seen career setbacks, or avoided promotions because you’ve stayed home with your children? And how many men have experienced similar career setbacks that can be attributed to parenting? Economic inequality, globally and nationally, is pervasive.

The 2011 survey of hours and earnings from the Office of National Statistics found that median gross weekly earnings for full-time male workers was £539. For women? £445. So last year, British women were paid 83p for every pound their male counterparts earned.

I see a strong case for continuing inequality in all three categories. The netmums survey found that only one in seven women still call themselves a feminist – with younger women least likely to.

Feminism is not about hating men. It is not about losing your femininity. It’s about equality. Which is something that we still need.